


a sweet recipe for disaster

by taeyeons



Category: Wanna One (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff and Humor, M/M, Romance, idk what else to tag....., more characters will be added as this develops, uh my great attempt at a chaptered fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-17
Updated: 2018-02-09
Packaged: 2019-03-06 03:38:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,518
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13402662
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/taeyeons/pseuds/taeyeons
Summary: Jihoon needed a fake boyfriend. Daehwi suggested Kang Daniel as a joke.





	1. jihoon’s bad idea

**Author's Note:**

> alternatively titled as: miss taeyeons’ coming out as a nielwink writer
> 
> oh wow hello 2k18! hello everyone! yes new year new me i’m suddenly a wannable and i write nw fics? ksjsjsjs i rly wanna try writing a chaptered fic and this is an idea i’ve had for a while so... 
> 
> there’s no planned schedule around this fic but i will try to finish this as fast as i can 
> 
> in the meantime i hope you can enjoy this and give me some feedback ;-;;; i’m debuting as a nw writer with this hn

As great ideas go, this isn’t exactly the best on Jihoon’s part.

There’s Inception (which is a great fucking film, Jihoon wishes he’s Christopher Nolan sometimes), Apple iPhones, the mere invention of frozen yoghurt (they destroy ice cream at their game).

Most people or per se, his circle of friends agree that Jihoon is quite creative in the ways he has fun (not in _that_ sense but it could be, who knows?) and he has been the decision-maker for most of the hangouts because who else can come up with the idea of laser tag in Daehwi’s pool in the middle of the night? Even his best friend, Woojin applauded him for that.

This time, however, isn’t an idea that Jihoon can brag about freely to any of his friends. This time, he’s pushing his limits, he’s desperate and most importantly, he’s _hopeless_.

“Say that one more time. And slowly so I can understand you.”

Jihoon swallows down the urge to sigh loudly. His eyes are averted to the marbled floor, uncertain of how the boy in front of him looks right now, though he is probably gorgeous, unaware and Jihoon is about to take advantage of that in a bit.

Nibbling on his bottom lip, Jihoon hates himself sometimes.

“I need you to be my fake boyfriend for an entire week because my mother will be in town and she is going to ask questions and I won’t be able to withstand her attempts to get me someone new ever since –” Jihoon takes a deep breath, slowing down. He mutters lowly, “Ever since Guanlin left.”

Jihoon braces himself and cautiously flicks his gaze upwards to see a confused expression on the boy’s face, his lips pursed together, his eyebrows furrowed deeply. Something tugs on Jihoon’s heart at the sight of it. The boy in question is none other than Kang Daniel whom Jihoon thought would be the right contender for this... fiasco. He can’t seem to imagine bringing any of his close friends to the table with his mother, she probably knows them already.

Kang Daniel, on the other hand, is somewhat perfect for the job description.

Thankfully, his mother hasn’t heard of him, or seen him which makes it a whole lot easier to just bury the mess under the rugs when it comes down to it. Jihoon isn’t exactly _close_ to Daniel, they run around the same group of friends though Jihoon sticks closely to Woojin and Daehwi whilst Daniel seems to have the entire college behind his back.

Daniel parts his lips, nothing comes out for a few seconds and Jihoon realises that he’s actually at a loss for words. He tries to brush it away, waving a hand in the air, “It’s fine if you don’t want to. I could just tell my mom the truth.”

 _But the truth is harder to say_ , Jihoon thinks to himself. It’s sad to admit that it is better to lie to his mother rather than tell her that he has been single as fuck ever since Guanlin went back to his hometown and his relationship status isn’t really marred by that, he just had been too busy with film production to actually care about dating. He knows saying all of that to his mother would just run through one ear and out the other without a single thought and she would make a fuss about it, rushing him to meet boys and girls catering to his type.

Jihoon understands that it’s out of her goodwill but sometimes, just _sometimes_ , he wishes his mother wouldn’t be this invested in his love life. It’s embarrassing to deal with and _now_ is the right situation to prove it.

Daniel, however, shakes his head. Laughs a little. Shoves his hands into his pockets and leans back to look at Jihoon a little better, a look of amusement twinkling in his gaze. “I don’t mind it,” he says so softly, Jihoon would have missed it if he wasn’t hanging onto every single word Daniel says.

“Really?!” Jihoon squeaks out incredulously. Woojin wins the bet this time, Daehwi wouldn’t be too happy about that. A sort of relieved feeling warms his heart and Jihoon stares at Daniel in disbelief. “You sure? You can think about it if you want, I don’t need an answer n–”

“Nah,” Daniel interrupts, a small smile creeping onto his face. His eyes hold a certain glint that tugs on the strings of Jihoon’s heart once again. He tethers on the heels of his sneakers, Jihoon watches the way the light catches aflame in the silver strands of his hair. And he wonders. “I don’t mind being your fake boyfriend for a week.”

Jihoon blinks once more. He stares at Daniel in utter disbelief. He was ready to fall to his knees to plead the latter for a chance, ready to reason through it and somehow convince Daniel to help him. Jihoon was prepared to throw his image out of the window and merely _beg_.

He wasn’t expecting an easy answer, a yes in a blink of a second.

Jihoon shakes his head slightly, noticing that they’ve been staring at each other for a whole minute without even saying anything. He stammers, nervous but mostly relieved, “I’ll message you the details!” He walks backwards, unable to turn his back on the elder so soon, pulled into his gaze, “See you later!”

He catches the soft but unmistakable sound of Daniel’s sonorous string of laughter and he feels his heart growing full.

_That was easier than I thought._

 

 

 

 

 

“Are you sure he wasn’t on drugs?” Woojin asks almost rhetorically with concern in his eyes at the same time as Daehwi exclaiming in utter shock, “You actually listened to me?!”

Jihoon rolls his eyes at Woojin’s reaction, turning towards Daehwi with a look of confusion. “Did you not say that for me to follow through?”

Daehwi’s eyes are widened, then he murmurs, “I didn’t think you had the balls to do so.”

Woojin pipes up from behind, unhelpful, “I didn’t think you had either.”

“Shut up, Woojin,” Jihoon snaps at his best friend. Woojin merely grins, the snaggletooth peeking out, teasing Jihoon in his pathetic state.

“I’m quite impressed and shocked that Daniel agreed,” Daehwi nods at Jihoon appraisingly. “I suggested him as a joke, but now you don’t have to worry! Isn’t that great?”

Daehwi claps a hand around Jihoon’s shoulder in his way of comfort. Usually Jihoon would shrug him off but he’s stunned, _did he somehow fall for some kind of trap? A prank?_

Remembering how Daniel agreed so easily, Jihoon wonders if he’s foolish enough to actually take the elder’s word for it. Woojin sees the crease in between Jihoon’s eyebrows and rolls his eyes at the unnecessary concern expressed on his face. Jihoon stays ignorant to it, when it comes to Park Woojin and his judgmental stance, it’s best to turn a blind eye to him.

Until his mouth opens.

“Who knows? Maybe Daniel fancies you. Or maybe it is a joke.”

Jihoon doesn’t know which to ponder on but his heart skips at the thought of Daniel fancying him. Not that he feels such for the older boy but merely imagining Kang Daniel, the campus’ golden boy liking a measly gamer from the art block? That’s a little nuts. Then, Jihoon’s mind rests on the latter; a joke to Kang Daniel. He thinks about the way Daniel’s eyes light up in amusement when he asked, the smile at the corners of his lips, did he not take nervous, sweaty Jihoon seriously?

Jihoon misses the way Daehwi elbows Woojin in the ribs, the wince spilling out of his lips. His head is rushing with the possibilities of being turned into the campus’ biggest joke. He thinks of Ong Seongwu running into the room, with a mega microphone in his hand, screaming at him, _“YOU’VE BEEN PRANKED!”_

Fuck. Maybe this is why he’s single.

Suddenly, Jihoon feels a hand sliding down his arm, cupping around his elbow loosely. It takes him a few seconds to realise that it’s Daehwi, he turns to meet a soft gaze. Daehwi shakes his head at Jihoon, smiling kindly as Woojin rubs his sides with a pained expression on his face.

“You have a new message, Jihoonie.”

Jihoon’s eyebrows furrow, confusion and it’s mostly curiosity taking over when he leans over to grab his phone from the table. Sure enough there’s a new message greeting him, lighting up the screen for a few seconds before blacking out but those few seconds are enough to make Jihoon’s heart race.

_hi fake bf this is kang daniel :) so... i’m guessing we need to meet up to talk the details out???? lol_

Jihoon tries to hide his smile, biting on the inside of his cheek as Woojin turns to Daehwi with a smirk. He holds out a palm, the other hand still nursing his ribs, “I won.”

The two are ignored as Jihoon stares at the phone screen, fingers swiftly typing a response to Daniel.

 

 

 

 

 

It’s sunny today.

The sun rays make their way into the coffee shop, casting a delicate shadow upon Kang Daniel. A light glow surrounds him as he sits by the windows and Jihoon frankly thinks it’s unfair for the boy to look so effortlessly gorgeous, sipping on his cup of coffee? tea? (Jihoon hasn’t found out yet).

His steps stutter to a stop, hesitant in front of the table Daniel had chosen to occupy in the coffee shop. Jihoon lingers a bit before speaking up in his way of greeting, “Hey, did you wait long?”

Daniel looks up, eyes brightening immediately at the sight of Jihoon. He shakes his head, smiling widely, “No, no! My class just ended early.” He gestures to the seat across him, “Take a seat!”

Jihoon does as he’s told, gingerly dropping his books on the seat next to him. He leans back, then thinks twice and leans forward instead out of nervousness.

“Do you want to get anything?” Daniel asks politely. “Sorry I only bought myself an espresso, I needed a wake up call after that dull lecture.”

 _So it is coffee_ , Jihoon thinks, amused, finally answering the question in his head.

His laugh fills Jihoon’s ears and it brings warmth to his sides at the sound, the way it rings through the pop music playing in the coffee shop. Jihoon decides that there’s nothing quite delightful like Daniel’s laughter.

“No, it’s fine,” Jihoon shrugs it off. “I’ve had two cups of coffee earlier and that’s my maximum for the day.”

Daniel laughs again and it brings out a smile upon Jihoon’s face, chuckling a little.

“So...” Daniel trails off, leaning close to Jihoon. He raises his eyebrows, almost looking expectant. “Have you figured out what we should do? Or say? Is there a list of rules I must abide by?”

The questions start shooting out and Jihoon parts his lips, slightly speechless as to how to answer the eager boy across him. He looks so genuinely curious and excited that Jihoon feels bad for doubting him even in the first place.

Jihoon pulls out a notebook from beneath his books. He can somehow feel Daniel’s stare on him, inquiring. He flips to an empty page and takes his pen out from his pockets.

Jihoon’s teeth graze the skin of his bottom lip, hesitant. “I was thinking that we’d come up with it together..?”

He looks up to see Daniel staring at him with a curious look in his eyes. Daniel has his chin resting on the palm of his hand, the pads of his fingers lightly tapping against his cheek. He’s transfixed again by his gaze and almost misses the words coming out of Daniel’s mouth in reply to Jihoon.

“...Well I am on board with that! I have a few things to add as well.” Daniel smiles and the sun shines directly on them, blinding Jihoon a bit but he finds that he doesn’t mind. It’s been a while since he’s been graced with the sun.

Jihoon raises an eyebrow, now _he_ is the curious one. He didn’t expect Daniel to say that or contribute anything really, all set to be the one to draw the story of their fake romance alone. He’s intrigued, prompting the latter to go on with his ideas.

Daniel shakes his head instead, nodding at him, “You first.”

Jihoon blinks at that, “Um... I was thinking of something simple like maybe a little skinship?” Jihoon colours at what he’s saying and realises that he’s paralleling forward too fast. “Because uh... my mom always says that I should be more clingy with my significant other? Because I’m too shy with my feelings? Whatever that means...”

Daniel chuckles, “Are you sure that’s for your mother or for _yourself_?”

Jihoon hates the smirk on Daniel’s face.

His blush deepens at his implication and he rushes to _set Daniel straight_. “I.. I d-don’t mean–”

But Daniel is suddenly moving forward, holding Jihoon’s gaze with an intensity unknown to him, paralysing to his spot. Jihoon’s words hang in the air just as Daniel reaches over to him, his hand lightly grazing his cheek. His touch is tender, warm and Jihoon unintentionally leans into it, chasing it. The corners of Daniel’s mouth tug upwards knowingly and Jihoon’s eyes widen, immediately moving away.

“There was an eyelash on your cheek,” and evidently enough, Jihoon sees it on the tip of Daniel’s finger. He suddenly lifts it to Jihoon’s lips, so close that he holds his breath. “Make a wish and blow,” Daniel says softly.

“Wh–”

“Just do it, Jihoonie.”

At the sound of his nickname uttered by Daniel, Jihoon softens slightly and rolls his eyes at the boy’s ridicules. He closes his eyes, _wishes_ as instructed and blows on the tip of Daniel’s finger gingerly, the ghost of his breath sending the eyelash away.

Daniel pulls his hand back and chuckles again at the sight of the crimson blush on Jihoon’s cheeks. This is so hard, Jihoon thinks.

“I can see what your mother meant.”

  
_What does that mean_ , Jihoon sends a glare Daniel’s way and he laughs, obviously finding the whole situation humorous. Jihoon tries to calm himself down, drawing out bullet points in between the lines of the empty page.

“Don’t make me set a restraining order on you, Daniel.” Jihoon threatens through gritted teeth.

Daniel’s expression is still amused, how is he always so cheerful? Jihoon wishes to know. “Like you could ever,” Daniel rebuts back. He lifts a finger at Jihoon pointedly and that smirk returns to his lips, testing Jihoon’s patience. “You chose me as your fake boyfriend.”

He wants to shout at Daniel, _you’re ridiculous_ , but then he finds that his heart is racing and he’s actually giving in to a smile around the boy and maybe, just maybe, he’s enjoying his company right before class.

It is still ridiculous, Jihoon tells himself as Daniel reaches over to take the notebook from him. He watches in slanted shock as the boy has his own pen out, writing across one of the bullet points in his penmanship. Jihoon stifles a laugh at how stiff Daniel’s hangul characters are, it’s cute.

When it’s done, Daniel pushes it back to Jihoon for him to read. He leans back as Jihoon curiously looks over at the scrawled writing on his notebook.

_Two hugs and a kiss on the cheek to condition Jihoon into the role._

Jihoon’s head jerks upwards to meet the mischievous glint in Daniel’s eyes. “I will _never_.”

The thought of it sends a chill down his spine and Jihoon cannot fathom why in the world is his heart beating so _fucking_ fast over it.

“You asked me to add my own ideas,” Daniel has his arms crossed, looking firm on what he wrote on Jihoon’s notebook but also like a fucking idiot that Jihoon wants to slap. Then, he hums, “And to think of it, it coexists with your idea so why not?”

“Because you’re unbelievable,” Jihoon actually says it out loud this time and Daniel laughs just as expected. He starts to regret the feelings of guilt from earlier and mostly, he regrets listening to what Daehwi meant as a joke.

Here Kang Daniel is, enjoying Jihoon’s agony at his expense.

In the midst of all this, Jihoon’s phone rings; an alarm to signal his class starting in five. He stops the blaring sound and gathers his books together. Just as he reaches for the notebook, he finds that it has been taken and is now in the hands of Kang Daniel.

Jihoon stares at it, perplexed. Daniel notices and lifts it up as some sort of gesture, “I’m keeping it to write my ideas down then we can discuss next time.”

Jihoon leans forward to snatch it back but curses when the boy uses his height to his advantage, holding it up high so that Jihoon can’t take it from him. Goddamn Daniel and his stupid height.

“What makes you think I want to fake date you now?” Jihoon spits. He starts mourning himself from a day ago, his naive, pure self, and all those thoughts of Daniel being nice when in reality, Jihoon is just signing up for torture.

Jihoon’s phone tells him he has three minutes to go and it takes exactly that much to walk to his class but the gaze in Daniel’s eyes holds him right in place, the intensity washing over him icily.

“You have no one else but me,” he says and Jihoon detests the confidence in his voice and the way his heart betrays him.

_How are you so sure, Kang Daniel?_

  

 


	2. jihoon’s fears

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> idk gaming don’t kill me game nerds i tried

The incessant beeping from his phone is the wake up call he gets in the middle of falling asleep in class. Jihoon slowly blinks away his sleepiness, groggily lifts his head from his folded arms and stares at the lit up screen with annoyance in the furrow of his eyebrows. Thankfully, his lecturer is droning on and on plainly about a test they had done a few days ago, reviewing over the answers. Jihoon doesn’t really care, opting for a nap instead.

He frowns when he reads the name on his screen, spinning the phone around to face him. It’s unmistakably _him_ and Jihoon hates how his heart jumps at the messages lining up.

  
_i hate kang daniel_ [13:47]  
hello there fake bf  
meet me at four at starbucks  
be there or be squared  
hahahaha

 _jihoon_ [13:50]  
well hello to you too  
also who r u to demand me around

 _i hate kang daniel_ [13:53]  
ur fake bf  
FOUR!! AT STARBUCKS!

 _jihoon_ [13:56]  
pffft  
who said i’d go

 _i hate kang daniel_ [14:02]  
ur fake bf did :p

Jihoon scoffs at his phone screen, already tired of Kang Daniel throwing the ‘fake boyfriend’ around to agitate him. He types out a simple ‘NO’ in reply and locks his screen to face the class properly. Jihoon chances a glance at the clock and sees that he’s two hours away from four and his class is ending in another half an hour. He groans when he realises that the lecturer has now launched into a full recap of their previous topics – warning them on another quiz. Damn literature, he curses inwardly, his attention span doesn’t exist when it comes to books. Jihoon is so close to hauling his body out the window to escape the class at this point.

He stares longingly at his phone, reaching for it again and pulling up the conversation with Daniel. He types out something, mulls over it and then, erases it completely before he starts to have any regrets.

It’s too late for any, he realises.

Then, his phone vibrates in the palm of his hand. Jihoon perks up and hates himself for it.

 _i hate kang daniel_ [14:10]  
don’t b a brat

Jihoon frowns again, rolling his eyes like as if the elder could see it from wherever he is. The lecturer’s voice becomes muted noise in this very moment as Jihoon suppresses a smile, a chuckle before replying to Daniel’s messages. It’s the boredom, Jihoon tells himself as he types out another response, Daniel is just lucky that Jihoon hates literature classes. The sleepiness from earlier ebbs away slowly as he entertains the elder during his class.

At this point, Jihoon can’t really lie to himself anymore.

 

 

 

 

 

“Park Jihoon!”

At the mention of his full name, Jihoon swerves his head around, confused. His senior, Jisung, storms over towards him, arms folded and eyebrows raised questioningly. He looms over Jihoon, his fingers tapping away at the keyboard and successfully exiting the page on the computer screen. Jihoon swallows down the urge to whimper because he just reached a new high and Jisung didn’t even save the progress for him so that means he has to start all over again and he wouldn’t be this upset if it didn’t take him a whole two weeks to get there in the first place.

Jihoon sighs, staring dejectedly at the computer and its goldfish screensaver.

“Can you kindly explain why Kang Daniel is standing outside the club room, asking for _you_?”

A hiccup comes out and Jihoon covers his mouth mostly in embarrassment. He grabs the bottle of water on the desk and gulps down water to get rid of it. Once he’s composed, his eyes avert to the ground and he shrugs, “I don’t know...”

But Jihoon’s gaze flits to the timestamp at the corner of the screensaver on the computer and _realises_ that it’s past five in the afternoon and _maybe_ that is why Kang Daniel is seeking him out in the middle of his club activities. He presses a palm to his eyes, feeling the strain of it suddenly and he wonders how in the living hell did Daniel find out about the gaming club?

Jisung, however, isn’t amused and he cocks his head at Jihoon, not buying any of his bullshit. He points at the door with a tense finger, jerking his chin towards it as well, “Go. And come back to tell me why.”

Jihoon resists the urge to roll his eyes at Jisung’s protective nature. Jisung has taken it upon himself to treat the latter like his own son for some reason and whilst Jihoon appreciates it sometimes (for instance, Jisung always buys extra for him when he brings food for the club), he has had enough of protective parents surrounding him. He knows he makes bad decisions (Kang Daniel is Daehwi’s fault, he decides) but he can take care of his grown ass in college.

With that, Jihoon staggers over to the door, slightly fearing facing Daniel because his behaviour around the older boy is unpredictable and he doesn’t want to get sucked into another one of his tricks (read: falling for him).

The door parts and Jihoon tightens his hold on the doorknob when he sees the tall boy lingering outside with two starbucks cups of coffee (he assumes) in his hands. He seems to be observing the flyers pinned on a notice board, his back facing Jihoon, unaware of his presence. Jihoon’s hand cramps up and he winces when he removes his hand from the doorknob, rolling his wrist around.

At the slightest sound, Daniel turns around and his mouth stretches upwards in his signature grin, soft at the corners, his teeth peeking out. Jihoon wants to look away but his feet propel him forward, one step, two steps, three steps and he’s now right in front of Daniel. His own lips itch to tug upwards in response but he presses his lips thinly together, seals it away and instead, he shoots a question at Daniel.

“What are you doing here?”

Daniel isn’t at all surprised by the question, just leans back against the wall and studies Jihoon closely. “I’m here for you, what else?”

Jihoon bites the inside of his cheek, wills the blush away. “How did you even know I’m here?”

The elder shrugs, giving nothing away. “I have my sources,” is all he says before holding out one of the cups towards Jihoon. He jerks his chin towards it encouragingly, “This is for you. Red velvet hot chocolate.”

Jihoon scrutinises it, narrowing his eyes at the hand wrapped around the cup. He sees a cursive _Peter Parker_ written across the white expanse of the cup. Daniel must’ve caught him staring at it in confusion because he jumps in to say, “I like spider-man.” Like that explains everything.

Jihoon merely nods, takes the cup from Daniel. The warmth is welcoming and he holds it close to his chest. Peering down at it, he wonders aloud, “How did you know my favourite drink?”

“Like I said, I have my sources.”

“And who is it?” Jihoon raises an eyebrow at Daniel, challenging, inquiring.

Daniel gives in, shrugging. “Daehwi.”

 _Daehwi, that little sh–_ Jihoon purses his lips, his finger idly rubbing the rim of the cup. “So Daehwi told you I was here then?”

Jihoon gets his answer as Daniel nods begrudgingly. The latter’s gaze flickers towards the club room and a smile tugs on his lips, amused. “I didn’t know you were into gaming,” Daniel says. “You should’ve told me. I waited for an hour without even realising.”

There’s guilt seeping into Jihoon’s skin and he cowers slightly under the gaze Daniel has him under. He looks away and clears his throat, trying to not imagine Kang Daniel sitting in that Starbucks all alone and nursing his own cup of coffee and expecting.

“Sorry,” Jihoon mumbles. “But I didn’t say I’d be there.”

Something tickles his chin, a light brush of fingers. It stays, turning into a firm but tender grip around his jaw. Jihoon looks up to find that it’s Daniel’s slender fingers cupping the side of his face with such a soft expression on his face that it makes Jihoon ache to lean even closer into his warmth. He tenses at the thought, Daniel senses it and his eyes are glimmering with concern now. Jihoon wants to tell him that it’s okay, he’s just being chicken and this is good practice for the week ahead with his mother in town but as he flits his eyes over Daniel’s face, his reasoning weakens.

“You don’t have to apologise,” the breath of Daniel’s words is hitting his cupid’s bow and all Jihoon can inhale is the scent of coffee and peppermint. “It was stupid of me to expect anything when you didn’t give your word.”

The corridor is awfully empty and quiet and Jihoon wishes Jisung could barge in right now, why hasn’t he? It’s a lot harder to not look into Daniel’s eyes and slip a little in them when they hold such a tender expression. Jihoon wonders and he is forgetting his line of thought when Daniel runs his thumb down the slope of his jaw, pausing at his chin, hovering over his bottom lip.

 _What do you want from me?_ is what Jihoon intends to say but instead, he blurts out, “I have to get back to the club!”

Surprised by Jihoon’s exclamation and looking like he has been drowned in freezing cold water, Daniel’s hand draws back immediately and he takes a step back to give Jihoon space. Jihoon appreciates the gesture but why is his head screaming at Daniel to come back, lean in even closer, finish his job faster.

Jihoon’s gaze darts between the door of the club room and Daniel’s broad back now facing him, hesitant to leave. He lingers, hand on the door knob and without even a single thought, he mutters, “I’ll ask Jisung if I can leave early.”

Daniel turns around, an eyebrow raised. “Hm?”

“Is your apartment empty at the moment? Woojin is always at mine so we can’t go there...” Jihoon is aware he’s babbling at the moment but he can’t stop. “It’s kind of stupid to head to another cafe with our coffee already and it’s really cold out now.”

“Wow, Park Jihoon. I didn’t know you were _that_ progressive.”

Jihoon’s cheeks are bathed in embarrassment, a crimson blush splaying across his skin in the wake of Daniel’s stupid, stupid insinuation. It’s scary that he knows that the elder is sporting a shameless grin right now, pleased. He chances a glance at Daniel and sure enough, there’s that grin stretched widely on his face, his eyes slightly crinkled at the corners. He looks so smug that Jihoon’s hand aches to slap it.

He retracts his steps, looming over Jihoon with a slight smirk on his lips. Jihoon’s eyes betray him, unable to stray away from Daniel’s. The latter cups a hand around Jihoon’s shoulder, squeezing it lightly before going in for the kill.

His breath tickles Jihoon’s ear, the plumpness of his bottom lip grazes past the shell of Jihoon’s ear so lightly yet he jumps at the contact. Jihoon can’t move still, Daniel’s hand is firm on his shoulder and he’s frozen to the spot.

“Alright, babe,” the pet name rolls out so naturally that Jihoon didn’t even blink at it but his heart skips over a beat or two. “We can go back to mine, if you want.”

Jihoon inhales sharply, gathering his senses back and he shoves Daniel off. The elder is already chuckling, laughing at his dramatic reaction but Jihoon is too unnerved to care about that. He hisses, “You shameless _flirt_. I hope you don’t say such suggestive things in front of my mother. She’d think that’s the type I go for.”

“Oh? What do you go for then? What’s your type, Jihoon?” Daniel is waggling his eyebrows at him, looking so amused and satisfied at the situation at hand.

Jihoon sucks in a breath to calm his nerves down. He feels jumpy, all over the place, and if he doesn’t rest his heart, he might actually lodge a punch on Daniel’s face and accidentally kiss him too because that’s what his heart wants. Not his head. Two different things.

“I’ll grab my things and we’ll go,” is what Jihoon says in reply, blatantly ignoring all the warning signs in his head, blatantly ignoring Daniel’s suggestive question.

He turns around, composing an apology to Jisung in his head. He foresees the club president to glare at him in disapproval and likely sulk and not talk to him which will last for a few days before he gives in with _“no one is better than you, Jihoonie! Join that game tournament in my place please!”._

As Jihoon twists the door knob open, he sighs, realising that he’s relenting to Daniel and maybe... he does need to join the game tournament in Jisung’s place in compensation.

 

 

 

 

 

“I didn’t know our college had such interesting clubs,” Daniel says as the both of them cross the campus, heading into the pavement, away from the college students.

The afternoon sun is dawning upon them yet the wintry air circles around Jihoon and it tickles his sides. He pulls his coat tighter and glances at Daniel wearing a loose trench coat, unbothered. The tips of his ears are flushed but other than that, Daniel seems _fine_. Jihoon could feel his hands freezing, certain that they’d prune the moment he reaches Daniel’s place. At the thought of it, he sighs. Winter is so harsh.

“If I had known, I would have joined in freshman year. It seems useless now that I’m graduating...”

Jihoon turns to the elder in shock, eyes widened, “You game?”

Daniel shrugs, “Yeah. Though I try not to so much this year.”

Jihoon pauses in his tracks, narrowing his eyes at Daniel. Somehow, he’s bewildered at the imagery of Daniel gaming. Trying to spike up an image of the boy intensely clicking away at his mouse and keyboard whilst gaming seems to be impossible, he can’t imagine the latter doing anything else other than drinking (he had the lovely memory of chugging down a few with Daniel, it was a stupid decision on his end) and fooling around the campus with Seongwu as his sidekick.

With that thought in mind, he realises that he doesn’t really know much about Daniel other than his easygoing and energetic personality that sucks everyone into him. Before this, Jihoon could easily count on one hand the times he’s had a one-to-one conversation with Daniel and that’s only small talk at parties (that Daehwi dragged Woojin and him to). Oddly enough, Daniel has never made Jihoon feel uncomfortable, always treated him like he’s known him for decades, the friendliness and familiarity dripping in his words.

Yet...

_“Don’t get too close to Kang Daniel, Jihoonie,” there’s a tense warning in Jisung’s voice. “He’s known to be a player.”_

_Jihoon scoffs, turning away, already dismissing Jisung’s words. It’s too late to ponder on it now. “You should be warning him of me.”_

“I bet you suck,” is what Jihoon says, teasing the latter. Daniel looks at him, lips parted and the breeze rustling his oddly coloured silver hair. It’s a sight to gaze at, and Jihoon is weak to it. He raises his eyebrows daringly, “I bet that I can beat you at anything.”

It must have flared something in Daniel as his eyes narrow at Jihoon and he leans in, overstepping his limits, challenging with his gaze. “That bet is on,” Daniel whispers, the wave of his words washing over Jihoon and drowning him in goosebumps.

He tells himself it’s the winter and not Kang Daniel.

 

 

 

 

 

It turns out that Daniel does not suck at gaming. He’s just a blubbering, overexcited puppy mess.

They started out with a bit of League and Jihoon had scoffed at it ( _“Child’s play,”_ Jihoon teased). At some point during the game, Daniel asked if Jihoon wanted some soda or something warm like hot chocolate because he’s willing to whip that up in the middle of a League session. Jihoon was distracted, cursing under his breath as another teammate falls into the enemy’s hands, and he shook his head in response. This continued for another hour and Daniel, Jihoon notices, is an energy machine even at gaming.

Daniel jumps at any attack, laughs afterwards when he realises how stupid he is, curses too loudly for Jihoon’s liking and he even spills his soda over the table when he’s blindly reaching for it mid-game. Jihoon is used to solidarity, sometimes a few sessions with Woojin before he gets up and gives up on it because his attention span can only last for a bit and Jihoon will somehow end up playing the whole night, sacrificing beauty sleep for a level up. Jihoon isn’t used to a clingy Daniel, pushing at his shoulders when he wins or even when he loses, miraculously managing to play well whilst talking his ear off about a million things at once.

“How the _fuck_ –”

“Language, Park.”

“Don’t _Park_ me!” Jihoon hisses and he pushes away from Daniel’s gaming laptop, frustrated. “You basically cheated your way through that one.”

Daniel glances at the dead screen for Jihoon’s character and he chuckles, “Just because I beat you doesn’t mean I was cheating. I’m quite good, y’know?”

Jihoon imitates him, exaggerating his low voice to mimic Daniel’s. The latter merely laughs in good measure, ignoring the sulk on Jihoon’s face as he finishes off the rest of Jihoon’s team. He raises his hands up in victory and yodels, waving his hands around excitedly. Jihoon rolls his eyes, crosses his arms because he refuses to believe that Kang Daniel is able to beat him at something he’s good at.

“Maybe I should join that gaming club of yours,” Daniel jests. Jihoon huffs in response, making the elder chuckle again. In the midst of sulking, Jihoon hadn’t realised that Daniel had successfully drawn closer to him. The feeling of another hand on his knee dawns upon him and Jihoon flits his eyes upwards to meet Daniel’s amused gaze.

“About that bet...” Daniel starts, tilting his head at Jihoon. “What am I getting?”

“Do you want a slap? Maybe I can demonstrate one of my character’s fighting moves on you,” Jihoon manages to threaten, his throat is closing up. He is trying to focus on something else other than Daniel’s fingers drumming away on his knees.

Daniel laughs again, “So violent. Is that how you get physical, Jihoon? Hmm?”

Jihoon’s cheeks colour at the assumption, turning away to conceal it. He pretends to glance at the clock, unable to withstand the look in Daniel’s eyes. I can’t do this, Jihoon thinks, alarming himself. _How will I fool mom if I can’t even stay within ten centimetres of this dude?_

Jihoon clears his throat, getting a grip of himself, “You said that you wrote your ideas down on my notebook. Where is it?”

“Oh, _that_.” Daniel brushes it off, waving his hand in the air. He smiles, Jihoon is wary of it. “I don’t have to get it out to tell you. I can just say it now.”

“Alright...” Jihoon is still wary, but he goes on, testing the latter. “Where did we meet then?”

“Orientation party in February.”

“What were you doing there? What was I doing there?”

“I was _partying_ as suggested and you were befriending freshmen.”

 _Reasonable_ , Jihoon comments inwardly. But if they met in February... “How did we get together at the party?”

“Your friend got drunk, I helped to send the two of you to the dorm. We talked and exchanged numbers.”

Jihoon narrows his eyes at Daniel, “How did we date then?”

“I asked you out. You said yes. I kept bringing you out and we naturally started dating.”

Jihoon sighs, leaning back in the chair, “My mother will never believe _‘naturally started dating’._ She thinks that I’m tougher than that.”

“Then, you rejected me at first but then I got into an accident and you got worried, running to the hospital to tell me that you loved me and you regretted saying no,” Daniel suggests, ending it with a teasing smirk.

“You just copied and pasted Boys Over Flowers.” Jihoon scrunches his nose. “My mom _hates_ that drama.”

“Your mom is the _tough_ one,” Daniel sighs for the first time and Jihoon feels sorry for him all over again. His hand leaves Jihoon’s knee and he is surprised by the disappointment slipping into his heart at the absence. Daniel moves to his bed, falling over to his sides in obvious exhaustion. He looks over at Jihoon, curiosity gleaming in his eyes, “How did you date your ex then?”

“Are you asking that for reference or because you’re interested?” Jihoon retorts back.

To his surprise, Daniel ponders on it and hums, “Both.”

Jihoon’s heart races, _what interest you speak of, Kang Daniel?_ “Guanlin was different...” He feels a stab of nostalgia as he recounts his past of dating the long-legged, sweet boy in his teens. “We were friends but I’ve always liked how adorable he is, earnestly taking in high school in Korea as a foreigner.”

Jihoon sighs, a small smile blooming on his lips almost subconsciously. “Took me a while to actually date him. He stumbled over his words when he asked and that itself made me swoon.”

“Never pegged you as the type to fall for damsels in distress.”

Jihoon’s eyes dart towards Daniel at that, witnessing something dark flash behind his gaze. Daniel’s jaw is tense, all traces of smiley Daniel are gone. Perplexed, Jihoon replies, “Are you _jealous_?”

There’s a few beats of silence and Jihoon’s question hangs in the air between them. Daniel continues to hold the younger under his scrutinising stare, slowly raising the pulse of Jihoon’s heart. His eyes avert to the floor, unable to stand the stare, unable to stand Daniel at all.

“I’m not,” Daniel finally answers. His tone is clipped, final. “I just can’t see how I can be like Guanlin and sweep you off your feet by being adorable and not knowing Korean.”

 _But you are adorable_ , a voice in Jihoon’s mind offers unhelpfully and he frowns at both the thought and Daniel’s sudden change of tone. His eyes flit over the elder’s slumped form on the bed, his arms clutching a bear-like plush toy to his chest in a kidlike manner. To imagine Daniel feeling inferior when he’s a whole different person in comparison to Guanlin, Jihoon can’t believe it yet the way a pout sits on Daniel’s bottom lip and the tension in his shoulders, it says otherwise.

“You don’t have to sweep me off my feet,” Jihoon says softly, surprising himself. His words wake Daniel up, making the latter arise from the bed, staring across at Jihoon in bewilderment. “You said you had a lot of ideas. That can’t be it,” Jihoon continues encouragingly.

Jihoon watches the way Daniel’s face brightens up like as if he has been told of world peace or he’s getting a life subscription of sweets. He swallows the urge to chuckle at the sight, giving into a smile instead, and that somehow tugs Daniel’s smile even more upwards. He looks like the sun personified, Jihoon muses.

Daniel rummages in the drawers of his study table, pulling out a familiar navy notebook. When he turns it over, Jihoon recognises the yellow, torn tape over the front to bind the cover and his eyes widen as Daniel flips it open, going past a few pages.

“Alright, let’s begin.”

 

 

 

 

 

 _–_ _Hold hands. It’s a must. Everyone does it._  
– _Cheek kisses_  
– _We met at a blind date. Woojin introduced us. Or Seongwu. Or Minhyun._  
– _Probably Minhyun. (He has good taste)_  
– _We only started becoming official after the third date._  
– _Jihoon’s favourite colour is pink_.  
– _Couple things (???)_  
– _We became closer and developed feelings for each other ~~because I’m so charming~~ because Jihoon is cute and I’m weak for that._  
– _I’ll be the clingy one_  
– _Must everyone know? (What if your mother ask around, Jihoon?)_  
– _Or we can recreate Romeo and Juliet_  
– _I’m Juliet_  
– _pet names: babe sweetheart ...honey? try them out first_

 

 

 

 

 

“So you’re saying Woojin is your matchmaker.” Daehwi repeats with a tone of disbelief edged in his voice. “Is that what I’m hearing right?”

Jihoon sighs, exasperated. His head is starting to spin, dizzy with all the details. He merely nods in answer. Daehwi’s frown deepens, he mutters to himself but Jihoon hears him all the same, “It’d make sense for _me_ to be the matchmaker.”

“Alright, alright! Be the matchmaker. _Jesus_.” Jihoon exclaims, resigned at this point.

He groans as his head leans back against the pillows, feeling the strain in the joint between his neck and shoulders. His neck feels so stiff after gaming with Daniel at his apartment, they did another few hours of gaming (Overwatch this time round and _damn_ , Jihoon had to give Daniel credit for it). Jihoon’s entire body was so tense the whole time and Daniel offered to massage the sore joints of his shoulders but Jihoon practically scurried away the moment Daniel’s hands hovered over his shoulders, afraid of the touch.

Jihoon knows he’s being silly at this point. They’re literally about to act out an entire romance to fool his mother and that includes: skinship. Contrary to popular belief, Jihoon is usually unafraid of little touches, a bit of clinging and unnecessary skinship. He used to annoy Woojin all the time by leaning his entire body on the latter like a dead weight, clinging onto his arm to get what he wanted. Daehwi peppers him with a lot of affectionate touches, and Jihoon returns them sometimes.

But Kang Daniel, he’s afraid of.

Jihoon doesn’t _hate_ it (which boggles his mind, they are barely past the level of acquaintances). In fact, he wants it more and it scares him because he doesn’t know what exactly resides behind his quickened heart rate whenever Daniel brushes his fingers past Jihoon’s skin. It scares Jihoon to want _more_ than just little touches with Daniel.

“Your forehead is creasing again,” Daehwi points out, his thumb is out to press softly against Jihoon’s forehead or more specifically, the crease in between his eyebrows. The tension leaves at the gesture and Daehwi asks, “What are you overthinking about again?”

Jihoon bites his bottom lip, his voice dripping with uncertainty, “Don’t you think this is a bad idea? I barely know Daniel and he barely knows me. What if it doesn’t work well?”

“Do you feel awkward with him?” Jihoon shakes his head at the question. Daehwi continues, “Then, you’re all good. I’m sure your mother knows how terrible you’re at showcasing anything remotely romantic so this isn’t much of a test in the first place.”

“Yah!” Jihoon swats at his best friend’s arm, Daehwi ducks away with a giggle. The heaviness in Jihoon’s heart disappears bit by bit with every laugh escaping his lips. “Are you saying I’m incapable of affection?”

Daehwi leans forward, pinching Jihoon’s cheeks. Jihoon immediately frowns at the action, tries again to shove Daehwi’s hands away but the latter holds on, laughing at the ridiculous sight of Jihoon’s reddened ears and pouty mouth.

“You know that isn’t true~” Daehwi sings in a mocking tone. He leaves Jihoon’s flushed cheeks alone and chuckles at the way Jihoon rubs his cheeks, looking hurt. “Doing it more will look forced so just be yourself with Daniel.”

“How did you become the wise one!” Jihoon attacks Daehwi with a punch, the latter moves away too late and it lands on his chest. Daehwi whines, Jihoon merely laughs but his words linger in his mind, considering it. He remembers how easily he agreed with Daniel’s ideas back in his apartment, and maybe just maybe, in Daniel’s luck, it’s natural for Jihoon.

_“You’re sure you’re fine with this?!” Daniel looks confused. He was probably prepared to have his ideas shot down, Jihoon muses to himself, chuckling inwardly at the reaction._

_Jihoon’s eyes stray to the squared handwriting on the paper, a small smile appearing. He feels a red flush travelling up his neck and he rubs at the nape of it, trying to hide his shyness as he answers, “It’s about time I show my mom that I’ve changed from the timid boy in high school.”_

_“Are you implying that I can do more than this?” Daniel’s smirk is suggestive and everything about his body language right now screams red into Jihoon’s mind. The warning bell ringing off the hook. He pretends to look disgusted, scrunches his nose up and moves to playfully smack the elder on the arm. Daniel’s reflexes are too fast and instead, Jihoon finds himself smacking the air._

_He clenches his fist, shaking it in Daniel’s face in a mock threat. “Don’t you dare!”_

_Daniel’s laughter rings in his ears pleasantly, Jihoon fights to keep himself from grinning too widely._

Jihoon presses his lips together, muffling the urge to smile as Daehwi mocks a pained expression.

“You should be thanking me! I advised you well!” he screeches as Jihoon goes in for another kill but he misses as Daehwi foresees it, scurrying to the other end of the couch.

“You betrayed me!” Jihoon accuses the latter. “You ratted my whereabouts out to Daniel!”

Daehwi gives him a knowing smirk and Jihoon scrunches his face at the sight. He waggles his eyebrows suggestively, “It went well in the end, didn’t it? I’m such a good friend.” He goes on and on about how he’s always right and he’s _the bestest friend that Jihoon has ever had._

Jihoon doesn’t have to feed his best friend’s ego, merely nodding away. Brushing off imaginary lint on his sweatpants, Jihoon gets up and leaves Daehwi blabbering away in the living room.

Jihoon sighs, speaking mostly to himself but knowing that Daehwi can hear it, “Oh well. Gotta tell Woojin that he isn’t the matchmaker anymore.”

 

 

 

 

 

The first time Jihoon met Kang Daniel was on campus. Not a party. Not the backyard of some senior’s house. Not a discreet (but failing to do so) party in the basement of one of the dorm buildings.

Woojin, having known Jihoon all his life and had somehow gotten stuck with rooming with the latter for the next few years of college, dragged him out to get some air. Jihoon, knowing his best friend best, called it bullshit because he knew that Woojin just wanted to find the dance club, sign up for auditions and get in it.

But Jihoon’s a good friend and he tagged along, immersing himself in the atmosphere of new beginnings.

His eyes swept over the campus, overwhelmed by the number of clubs and the members crowding all the freshmen, screaming over the booming tacky pop music from the speakers. He saw a few that he recognised from high school, not close to enough to say hi but still sent a smile over in greeting.

Woojin exclaimed out of a sudden and it made Jihoon jump, “There it is!”

Jihoon turned to see what got Woojin all excited and saw that his best friend had abandoned his side and ran all the way to a single booth in the middle with _YMC DANCE_ written in scrawny block letters on a banner above it. A few freshmen crowded the booth, mostly girls, Jihoon noted. They were giggling, hiding their faces behind their hair but still peeking out to glance at the members of the dance club. Woojin seemed like the only one whom was genuinely interested in the club rather than the members.

Jihoon, then, let his gaze flirt over the occupants of the booth and he raised an eyebrow, intrigued.

A tall boy, donning an oversized yellow tee (like as if he needed something bigger to emphasis his huge size) and a ballcap turned backwards on his head, stood at the far end of it. Jihoon observed that he wasn’t doing much, merely laughing at small things and smiling at those overexcited girls which only caused them to fall into more of a fit of giggles. He looked up and his eyes fell on Jihoon almost immediately.

There was an expression of curiosity on the boy’s features. Jihoon, however, tilted his head, assessing the boy further. A quirk of his lips, tugging upwards into a full smile at Jihoon. He didn’t seem to look bothered by the way Jihoon stared at him, the smile remained, unwavering like the sun shining behind him.

Jihoon frowned.

And turned away.

Later, when Woojin told him about the dance club, gushing on about every member’s skills, he mentioned Kang Daniel, describing the boy in great detail. Jihoon hadn’t been properly listening but something caught his attention and he straightened up.

“Is that the boy in a yellow top at the booth earlier?”

Woojin turned to Jihoon, narrowing his eyes at the sudden interest, but he answered anyway. “Yes...” he drew the syllable out slowly. “Why?”

He shrugged in answer to Woojin, “He seemed popular with the ladies.” And he ignored the rest of whatever Woojin said, something about how everyone else is popular too.

Kang Daniel, Jihoon echoed it out in his head, oddly fascinated. _Interesting_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> finally i’ve updated!! so sorry for this long wait ;___; it took me a while to write in between long work hours it’s kinda lacking but i hope yall enjoy it!
> 
> also: wow what the Fuck 101 kudos???? (what a gr8 number too if u kno what i mean) i’m overwhelmed by the response i’ve gotten on this and i’m rly thankful?? like thanks so much for commenting and leaving kudos on this fic i’ll do my best to meet all ur expectations c:
> 
> oh n one more thing: i edited a bit in the first chap where i mentioned jihoon as a science student i’m a dumb bitch i meant him as an art student alright that’s all !!


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